MOT advisory explained
“Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords”
The kerb advisory. Most of these cuts are in the sidewall, on the passenger side, on newer cars with low-profile tyres. A cut cannot heal and a sidewall cannot be repaired, so this is one of the tyre advisories most likely to end in a failure.
There is a cut in the rubber of one tyre. The tester opened it up and checked how deep it goes. It stops short of the ply, the fabric and steel cords that give the tyre its strength, so it passes.
10.8% fail on a tyre at the next test, the highest of the common tyre advisories. Only 9.8% are advised again. A cut tyre rarely stays as it is for a year: most are replaced, and a good share of the rest get worse.
Mid-range tyre in a common size, fitted and balanced. The cars that get this advisory most often run larger, low-profile tyres, which cost more than this.
A cut in the sidewall cannot be repaired. Only small punctures in the central part of the tread can. If anyone offers to patch or plug a sidewall, go elsewhere.
A “tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords” advisory means a tyre has a cut in its rubber that does not reach the structural cords inside, so the car passes. Most are sidewall cuts from kerbs and cannot be repaired. A replacement tyre costs £70–£100 fitted. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 10.8% of 2.2 million such advisories followed to the next test failed on a tyre.
What makes a cut a pass or a fail
The rule. A tyre fails the MOT if it has a cut longer than 25 mm, or a tenth of the tyre’s width if that is greater, that is deep enough to reach the ply or cords. Yours is either shorter than that or shallower. The tester cannot always tell how close to the cords a cut is, which is why it is written down.
Where the cuts are. The notes testers add are nearly all about one place. “sidewall” is first, 177,409 times, then “outer sidewall”, and seven of the next nine are other ways of writing the same thing. “in tread” is the only note in the list that names a different part of the tyre. The sidewall is the thinnest part of a tyre and the part that meets the kerb.
Why the sidewall matters more. The tread has steel belts under thick rubber. The sidewall has a thin skin over the cords and flexes with every turn of the wheel. A cut there is worked open and closed thousands of times a mile, and water that gets in through it corrodes the cords from inside.
Will it fail next year?
2,198,577 of these advisories were followed to the same car’s next MOT.
| What happened at the next test | Share |
|---|---|
| Failed on the same component | 10.8% |
| Same advisory recorded again | 9.8% |
According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair: 2,198,577 advisories followed to the same vehicle’s next test. Rows can overlap.
A cut tyre does worse than a worn one. “Worn close to legal limit” fails 10.0% of the time and cracking or perishing 9.2%. Wear and age are gradual and predictable. A cut is a weak point, and it gets longer and deeper with use.
The repeat rate tells the same story from the other side. Around a quarter of cracked tyres are simply advised again. For cut tyres it is fewer than one in ten.
| Advisory wording | Fails on same part | Advised again | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre has a cut | 10.8% | 9.8% | 2,198,577 |
| Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge | 10.0% | 22.0% | 32,463,345 |
| Service brake binding | 9.3% | 14.4% | 2,418,487 |
| Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing | 9.2% | 24.4% | 14,917,627 |
| Brake pad(s) wearing thin | 7.2% | 16.9% | 13,888,197 |
| Valve stem slightly damaged | 3.5% | 13.4% | 184,267 |
| Road wheel slightly distorted | 1.0% | 29.6% | 1,628,156 |
Most advisories become more common as cars age. This one does the opposite. It is at its most frequent at 3–4 years, 14.6 per 1,000 tests, and falls steadily to 5.9 at 20 years and over. The chance of failing next time runs the other way, from 9.2% up to 12.9%.
| Age of car | Per 1,000 tests | Fails on same part | Followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3–4 years | 14.6 | 9.2% | 433,352 |
| 5–6 years | 13.4 | 10.3% | 409,810 |
| 7–9 years | 12.1 | 11.5% | 490,173 |
| 10–12 years | 10.5 | 12.2% | 332,892 |
| 13–15 years | 9.3 | 12.9% | 206,233 |
| 16–19 years | 8.3 | 12.6% | 109,331 |
| 20 years and over | 5.9 | 11.1% | 27,846 |
Newer cars have bigger wheels and shallower tyres. With less sidewall between the rim and the road, the tyre sits closer to the kerb edge and has less rubber to take a scuff. An older car on tall tyres can brush a kerb and show nothing.
The older the car, the more likely a cut is to fail next time. One plausible reason is that owners of older cars are slower to replace a tyre that still holds air.
Look for a bulge near the cut. A bulge means cords inside have already broken. That is a dangerous defect, and the tyre should come off the car now.
Exact wording on your certificate
The advisory and the failure differ by one fact: whether the cut reaches the cords.
| Line on the certificate | Result | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords | Advisory — pass | 5.2.3 (d) (i) |
| Tyre has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords | Major — fail | 5.2.3 (d) (i) |
| Tyre has a lump, bulge or tear caused by separation or partial failure of its structure | Dangerous — fail, do not drive | 5.2.3 (d) (ii) |
This is the clearest left and right split in any advisory we track. The nearside front alone accounts for 27%, and nearside positions together make up more than half. In Britain the nearside is the kerb side. These are parking and pulling-over injuries.
| Position written by the tester | Share of all instances |
|---|---|
| Nearside front | 27% |
| Nearside rear | 22% |
| Offside rear | 18% |
| Offside front | 16% |
| Nearside front outer | 5% |
| Offside front outer | 2% |
From 4,677,432 recorded instances. Testers can add their own note after the standard wording. The most common on this advisory: “sidewall” (177,409), “outer sidewall” (131,429), “side wall” (60,402), “inner sidewall” (44,769), “outer wall” (44,726), “wall” (41,906), “outer side wall” (32,568), “in tread” (28,252).
What a replacement tyre costs
| Job | Price fitted | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| One tyre, fitted and balanced | £70–£100 | Mid-range, common size. Low-profile and large sizes cost more |
Fitted price including a new valve and balancing. If the other tyre on that axle is more than half worn, tyre fitters will often suggest changing both so the pair match, and on four-wheel-drive cars matching matters more. A small cut in the tread, away from the shoulders, may be repairable for much less. Other prices are on the repair costs index.
Can I still drive with this advisory?
Check it every week or two. Replace the tyre straight away if the cut gets longer, if you can see fabric or wire in it, or if a bulge appears. Until it is replaced, avoid long motorway runs, heavy loads and kerbs on that side.
Enter your reg for your car’s full MOT history. Repeated tyre damage on the same side says something about where and how the car is parked.
Which cars get this advisory most?
The average vehicle gets this advisory on 11.4 of every 1,000 tests. Here are the models that get it most.
| Model | Per 1,000 tests | Vs all cars | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW 218i | 32 | 2.8× | 88,825 |
| Tesla (all models) | 31 | 2.8× | 477,606 |
| Jaguar I-Pace | 31 | 2.7× | 80,053 |
| Lexus CT | 30 | 2.6× | 263,102 |
| Volvo XC40 | 27 | 2.4× | 325,871 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA | 26 | 2.3× | 461,216 |
| BMW 330e | 25 | 2.2× | 64,825 |
| Audi A5 | 25 | 2.2× | 1,122,920 |
| Skoda Karoq | 24 | 2.1× | 267,727 |
| Audi A1 | 24 | 2.1× | 1,863,077 |
Model families are grouped by the first word of the DVSA model name, so “Transit” covers every Transit variant. Only models with at least 60,000 tests are ranked.
It is a list of recent premium cars, and three of the ten are electric or plug-in: Tesla (all models), the Jaguar I-Pace and the BMW 330e. Heavy cars on wide, low-profile tyres have the least sidewall to spare and the most weight pressing it into a kerb.
None of the small city cars that fill the cracked-tyre list appears here. The two tyre advisories describe opposite kinds of car.
What to do next
- Find the cut and photograph it. With a coin beside it for scale. You will want to know in a month whether it has grown.
- Have a tyre fitter look at it. Most will inspect a tyre without charge and tell you honestly whether it is cosmetic. They see hundreds.
- Replace a sidewall cut that shows any depth. If you can open it with a fingertip and see into it, do not wait for the MOT.
- Check the wheel as well. A kerb strike hard enough to cut a tyre can mark or bend the rim. Look for a flat spot or a fresh scrape next to the cut.
Tyre cut advisory FAQ
What does tyre has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords mean?
A tyre has a cut in its rubber, and the tester checked that it does not reach the fabric and steel cords inside. Because the structure is intact it is an advisory and the car passes.
When does a cut in a tyre fail the MOT?
When it is longer than 25 mm, or a tenth of the tyre’s width if greater, and deep enough to reach the ply or cords. Any lump, bulge or exposed cord is also a failure.
Will a cut tyre fail next year?
More often than other tyre advisories. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, 10.8% of 2.2 million such advisories failed on a tyre at the next test, and only 9.8% were advised again.
Can a cut in a tyre sidewall be repaired?
No. Only small punctures in the central area of the tread can be repaired to the British Standard. A sidewall cut means a new tyre once it is deep enough to matter.
How much does a replacement tyre cost?
A mid-range tyre in a common size costs £70–£100 fitted and balanced. Low-profile and large tyres cost more. These are estimates and final quotes come from tyre fitters and garages.
Why is it usually the nearside tyre?
Because the nearside is the kerb side in Britain. In DVSA records the nearside front is the most common position for this advisory, and most cuts are in the outer sidewall, which is what touches the kerb when parking.
How these figures were calculated. According to DVSA MOT data analysed by PriceMyRepair, from the DVSA anonymised MOT test results (Open Government Licence v3.0): 350,943,111 tests. This advisory was recorded 4,677,432 times; 2,198,577 of those were followed to the same vehicle’s next test between 180 and 730 days later. “Fails on the same part” means a failure at that next test under the same defect code and naming the same component, on either side of the vehicle. Testers do not always name a component the same way twice, so the figure is a floor. Method and how to cite.